fenU  1  Conf  pam  12mo  #695 


8< >LDIERS'  TRACT  ASSOCIATION,  7  N0.  74 

t  Richmond.   Va.  ) 

The  Two  Steps  to  Immediate 
Conversion. 

ADDRESSED  TO  THE  MOURNER  IN  ZION. 


My  Dear  Fribnd  :  I  take  it  for  granted  that  you  are  at 
tost  awake  to  a  sense  of  JOBT  sin  and  danger— that  you 
have  given  up  all  your  frivolous- excuses,  and  weak  and 
wicked  apologies  for  your  past  sinful  and  rebellious  life — 
that  you  do  confess  with  shame. and  contrition  your  guilt 
iu  the  sight  of  God;  qjv.1,  lastly,  that  you  are  mo3t  earn- 
estly inquiring,   "  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  "  • 

You  are  in  pursuit  of  au  object.- and  solicitous  to  know 
tho  mode  of  its  attainment.  A  clear  perception  of  the 
nature  of  that  object  wjil  probably  throw- light  upon  the 
l>est  means  of  securing  it.  Let  us  then  first  seek  instruc- 
tion, on  this  point.  You  need  salvation,  or,  as  you  express 
it,  "to  be  saved."  What  is  salvation?  Leaving  out  the 
application  of  the  term  to  your  future  maturity  in  grace 
and  glorification  in  Heaven,  we  will  confine  ourselves  to 
the  more  restricted  sense  in  which  you  use  it,  as  applica- 
ble to  your  present  urgent  necessities. 

Your  desire  may  be  expressed  thus — to  be  delivered 
from  the  present  burden  of  guilt  and  apprehension  of  de- 
served wrath,  and  to  receive  the  moral  power  to  "go  and 
Bin  no  more  ;"  in  other  words,  you  want  the  pardon  of 
your  sins,  and  the  regeneration  of  your  nature. 

Let  us  inquire  what  these  two  words,  pardon  and  re- 
generation, mean. 

1.  Pardon,  in  its  common  acceptation,  is  the  passing  by  an 
offence,  the  forgiveness  of  a  debt,  the  remission  of  a  pen- 
alty. Pardon,  when  spoken  of  in  .Scripture  as  exercised 
by  God  toward  the  sinner,  includes  the  free  and  full  for- 
giveness of  all  his  past  transgressions,  the  entire  remis- 
sion of  the  penalty  due  to  his  crimes,  and,  in  immediate 
and  inseparable  connection  with  these,  the  justification 
of  the  person  of  the  sinner;  that  is,  such  a  change  of  his 
1 


2  Tico  Steps  to   Immediate   Conversion. 

moral  relation  to  God  as  will  constitute  him  innocent  in 
his  sight,  as  though  he  had  always  been  free  from  any 
wilful  or  actual  violation  of  tlie  mural  law. 

2.  Regeneration  is  that  change  wrought  iu  our  hearts 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  through  our  belief  of  the  truth,  Which 
constitutes  us  children  of  God,  and  gives  us  a.tith-  to 
Heaven — which  thoroughly  renews  our  spiritual  natu 
reversing  the  natural  bent  of  our  affections  and  will,  and 
strongly  inclining  us  to  hate  and  renounce  all  sin.  and  t  > 
love  and  choose  God,  and  all  that  is  holy  and  good. 

Is  this  the  salvation,  dear  reader,  that  you  desire  ?  Do 
you  truly  wish  for  deliverance  from  siji  itself,  as  well  as 
from  its  consequences?  If  so,  your  earnest  inquiry  is, 
Can  I  obtain  this  salvation— ^obtain  it  noiv—~ and  io  what 
wayf  I  answer  emphatically,  Yes — now,  this  day,  this 
Xary  hour,  by  taking  a  very  plain  and  simple  course. 

According  to  the  teachings  of  God's  word,  there  arc 
but  two  stei'S  necessary  to-  salvation,  and  they  are*  ub- 
rKNTANCE  and  faith.  Let  us  then,  if  we  may,  acquire 
clear  views  of  what  is  comprised  in  these  terms. 

REPENTANCE,  when  reduced  to  its  results,  that  is,  sepa- 
rate and  apart. from  the  bitterness',  the  tears,  the  self-re- 
proach, the  humiliations  and  the  confessions  which  usually 
accompany  it,  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  obedience  to 
the  precept,  "Cease  to  do  evil:  learn  to  do  well." 
But  it  is  this  obedience  in  its  broadest  sense.  It  is, 
"  Cease  to  do  evil,"  promptly,  universally,  for  ever.  It  is, 
"  Learn  to  do  well,"  at  once  and  always,  with  both  hands, 
earnestly.  But  you  reply,  "  This  is  a  slow  process,  and 
my  case  is  an  urgent  one.  What  you  assert  to 'be  neces- 
sary I  have  begun  to  do.  How  long  must  I  pursue  this 
course  ere  I  can  look  upon  myself  as  a  true  penitent?" 
Have  you  indeed  ?  Have  you  honestly  determined  in  your 
heart,  and  solemnly  covenanted  with  your  Maker,  that 
you  have  done  for  ever  with  your  sins;  and  are  you  now 
daily  striving  by  his  help  to  live  unto  God  ?  If  so,  I  have 
good  news  for  you — you  are  now  a  true  penitent,  and,  as 
such,  you  have  this  moment  a  right,  by  God's  own  invita- 
tion, to  take  the  second  step,  even  to  believe  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  for  present  pardon.     Here  are  both  the  invi- 


Two   Steps  to   Immediate    Conversion.  3 

trition  and  the  warrant  for  your  confidence:  "Let  the 
■wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his 
thoughts;  and  let  him  return  unto  the  Lord,  and  he  will 
have  mere}'  upon  bin  ;  and  to  our  God.  for  he  will  abun- 
dantly pardon."  Isaiah  lv.  7.  When?  According  to 
the  tenor  of  the  text,  as  well  as  of  all  Scripture,  now/ 

Do  you.still  ask,  "  How  can  I  know  that  1  have  at  heart 
forsaken  my  sins?"  I  answer,  this  is  a  matter  of  con- 
sciousness. Were  I  to  ask  you  if  you  love  your  dearest 
and  best  friend*  or  if  you  abhor  the  vilest  and  most' de- 
testable crimes,  you  would  not  have  to  enter  upon  a  course 
of  reasoning  to  satisfy  yourself  that  you  love  the  one  and 
hate  the  other.  Even  so,  your  own  consciousness  must 
apprise  you  at  once  of  the  fact,  if  it  be  so,  of  your  having 
truly  turned  from  your  sins.  How  can  you  conceive  that 
a  man  could,  calmly,  solemnly,  and  with  all  sincerity  in 
•  the  sight  of  God,  renounce  all  known  sin,  and  fix  the  firm 
resolve  to  lead  a  new  life  in  the  fear  of  God,  without  know- 
ing that  he  had  done  so  ?  This  is  consciousness  of  the  fact, 
and  when  you  have  arrived  at  this  point,  you  have  taken 
the  first  Scripture  step  toward  conversion. 

This  is  a  very  importaut  point,  however,  and  one  on 
which'  you  should  be  properly  guarded.  God  requires 
"truth  in  the  inward  parts."  It  must  be  no  half-way 
business.  All  sin  how  great  or  small  soever  in  your  eyes, 
how  dear  or  desirable  soever  it  may  seem,  yea,  though  it 
be  the  very  warp  of  the  web  of  life,  ami  though  the  effort 
to  disengage  it  make  the  heartstrings  quiver  with  anguish, 
all,  all  must  be  sacrificed:  in  purpose  of  heart,  delibe- 
rately and  for  ever  laid  aside. 

And  now  as  to  the  time  requisite  to  come  to  this  point. 
Must  it  necessarily  be  long?  By  no  means.  Would  not 
a  single  hour's  serious'  thought  be  abundantly  sufficient 
to  make  up  your  mind  fully  upon  this  subject,  and  to  be- 
gin the  great  work?  Undoubtedly.  I  once  heard  of  a 
man  who,  though  he  entered  the  church  unconcerned,  de- 
liberately resolved,  during  the  sermon,  that  he  would  give 
up  the  world  and  be  a  Christian.  At  the  close  of  the 
discourse  he  arose,  addressed  a  few  words  to  his  old 
friends,  stating   his   determination,  and  then  approached 


4  Two   Steps  to  Immediate   Conversion. 

the  altar  to  ask   the  prayers  of  God's   people,  but   before 
he  could  kneel  there,  \yas  powerfully  converted. 

Now,  my  d«ar  friend,  let  me  assure  you  that,  if  I  rightly 
understand  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  upon  this  subject, 
when  yon  have  arrive;!  at  the  state  id'  mind  I  have  de- 
scribed, whether  it  took  3rou  five  minutes  Or  five  years  to 
get  there,  you  are  a  true  penitent,  and  a  fit  subject 
immediate  conversion.  You  are  jusi,  where  God  would 
have  you  be  in  order  to  convert  you.  You  have  complied 
with  the  terms  laid  down  in  the  text  quoted  :  (Isa.  lv.  7:) 
you  have  "forsaken  your  way  ;'  and  your  "  evil  thoughts," 
and  are  now,  in  the  best.wav  you  know,  Striving  to  "re- 
turn unto  the  Lord."  What  then  prevents  the  instant  reali- 
sation of  the  promise  to  "have  mercy  upon"  you  and 
"abundantly  pardon  "  you  ?     Nothing  but  your  unbelief. 

This  brings  us  to  the  consideration  of  the  second  stejH 
that  of  FAITH. 

This  is  the  great  point  of  difficulty  with  almost  all  pen- 
itents. What  shall  I  believe?  and  hoio  shall  I  believe? 
arc  the  questions  asked  again  and  again,  by  the  anxious 
and  burdened  heart.  May  the  Spirit  of  Truth  aid  iu  giv- 
ing the  answers. 

First,  then,  God  requires  faith  :  "  without  faith  it  is  im- 
possible  to  please  him."  Ileb  \\.  6.  This  fact  must  im- 
ply two  things:  first,  that  God  has  given  us  sufficient 
ground  for  our  faith,  and,  second,  that  he  has  given  us  the 
power  to  believe.  Let  us  see  the  ground  on  which  we  are 
thus  required  to  believe.  It  is  written,  John  iii.  10,  "God 
so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son, 
that  whosoever  belicveth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have 
everlasting  life."  Again,  2  Cor.  v.  l'J,  "God  was  in 
Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself,  not  imputing 
their  trespasses  unto  them."  And  again,  Rom.  iii.  28-26, 
*'  For  all  have  sinned,  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God  ; 
being  justified  freely  by  his  grace  through  the  redemption 
that  is  in  Christ  Jesus;  whom  God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a 
propitiation,  through  faith  in  his  blood,  to  declare  his 
righteousness  for  the  remission  of  sins  that  are  past;  .  .  . 
that  he  might  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  which  be- 
lieveth  in  Jesus." 


Two  Steps   to  Immediate   Conversion.         5 

Do  not  those  scriptures  plainly  teach  us  that  the  origi- 
nal source  of  man's  redemption  Avas  theessential  goodness 

and  infinite  benevolence  of  God  the  Father,  prompting 
him  to  devise  some  moans  to  rescue  his  fallen  creatures 
from  their  perilous  condition?  In  the  first  of  these  quo- 
tations it  is  said,  "i?orf  so  loved  the'  world  that  he  gave  Ma 
Son."  Evidently  the  love  was  in  the  heart  of  the  Father 
previous  to  the  gift  of  the  Son,  for  that  gift  is  represented 
as  the  consequence  of  this  love.  In  the  second,  we  boo 
the  perfect  willingness  of  God  that  man  should  be  restored 
to  his  favor,  and  no  longer  have  trespasses  imputed  unto 
'him.  In  the  third,  we  not  only  have  the  same  precious 
truth  reiterated,  but  we  have  also  set  before  us  the  spe- 
cific means,  the  actual  instrumentality,  by  which  this 
reconciliation  is  to  be  accomplished:  Christ  the  propitia- 
tion— through  faith  in  his  blood—  and,  finally,  the  result 
in  the  case'  of  God  and  the  sinner— God  remains  just 
while  the  sinner  is  justified. 

To  one  of  the  expressions  in  the  last  passage- 1  would 
call  your  undivided  attention.  It  is  this  :  "  through  faith 
in  his  blood."  These  few  words  abound  in  the  very 
essence  of  the  gospel.  Here  are  both  the  manner  of,  and 
the  satisfactory  reason  for,  yonr  justification.  You  still 
ask,  "In  what  way  is  the  blood  of  Christ  <i  satisfactory 
reason  to  God,  for  the  sake  of  which,  on  my  exercise  of 
faith  in  it,  he  will  blot  out  my  sins  ?  "  I  answer,  on  the 
simple  ground  of  rendering  an  equivalent,  or,  in  other 
words,  of  paying  a  debt.  How  is  this  ?  You- have  viola- 
ted the  law  of^God;  consequently,  it  has  a  claim  upon 
you  ;  you  are  a  debtor  to  that  law.  ^hat  is  the  amount 
of  that  debt?  It  involves  the  forfeit  of  eternal  life— - 
"The  soul  that,  sinneth,  it  shall  die.'"  The  law  is  strict, 
stem,  unyielding  It  knows  no  mercy,  it  provides  no 
remedy.  It  must  be  maintained  in  all  its  integrity,  though 
the  last  sinner  perish  for  ever.  How  is#  this  debt  to  be 
paid  ? — this  demand  of  an  infinitely  holy  law  to  be  satis- 
fied  ?  So  far  as  you  are  concerned,  there  is  but  one  way 
of  meeting  it,  and  that  is  by  enduring  eternally  the  hor- 
rors of  the  second  death.  There  is  no  hope  for  you.  Yea 
•are  already  involved,  and  each  day  but  adds  to  the 
deep  shade  of  guilt  that  already  darkens  your  ruined  spirit. 


6  Two   Steps  to  '  Immediate   Conversion. 

Just  at  this  juncture  the  compassion  of  God  has  inter- 
posed in  your  behalf.  Seeing  man's  undone  condition,. 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  second  person  in  the  ever- 
blessed  Trinity,  undertook  the  work  of  saving  him  This 
he  did,  not  by  abrogating  the  law,  not  by  suspending  its 
operation  and  arbitrarily  pardoning  the  sinner,  hot  by 
taking  man's  place  and  suffering  in  his  stead.  The  life 
of  Jesus  was  paid  to  redeem  our  forfeited  life.  The  Hood 
of  the  Sou  of  God  was  poured  out  as  the  expiatory  sacri- 
fice for  the  sin  of  the  world.  In  submitting  to  the  suffer- 
ings and  death  which- he  endured,  he  fully  met  and  for 
ever  satisfied  all  the  claims  which  the  law  of  God  had 
against  man.  He  in  Avhom  "dwelt  all  the  fulness  of  the 
God-head  bodily,"  who  was  the  Author  of  this  law,  and 
consequently  himself  under  no  obligation  to  it,  even  he, 
in  virtue  of  his  own  character  as  "God  over  all,"  in  con-f 
descending  to  be  man's  substitute,  stamped  upon  his  sac-' 
rificial  death  such  infinite  value  as  to  render  it  equivalent, 
if  need  be,  to  the  redemption  of  a  thousand  worlds. 

Here,  then,  you  see  the  procuring  cause  of  your  salva- 
tion. Here  is  the  foundation  which  God  has  laid  for  your 
faith. 

This,  then,  is  what  you  must  believe  :  The  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  has  met  the  demands  of  the  law  upon  me.  He  has 
Stood  in  my  place  and  suffered  for  me.  He  has  paid  mi/ 
debt.  He  has  died  in  my  stead;  consequently,  /need  not 
die.  "What  more  could  you  ask  ?  What  more 'can  the  law- 
ask?  Nothing,  literally  nothing.  Every  whit  is  paid, 
and  you  are  free — free  this  moment,  if  you  will  now  ac- 
cept and  rely  upon  #this  Jesus  as  your  Saviour.  God  is 
now,  on  his  part,  reconciled  to  you  through  this  work  of 
Christ,  and  ready  at  once  to  receive  you  as  his  accepted  ' 
child.  . 

Let  us  now  for  a  moment  consider  the  'power  to  believe, 
and  the  act  of  believing.  It  must  be  evident  to  a  think- 
ing mind  that  God  cannot,  consistently  with  his  character, 
require  any  work  at  our  hands  without  conferring  on  us 
the  necessary  ability  to  perform  it.  but  he  requires  us  to 
believe  ;  consequently,  he  must  have  given  us  power  to  do 
so.  The  power  to  believe  is  one  of  the  natural  endow-  • 
ments  of  the  mind.     It  is  that  faculty  by  which,  on  re.- 


Two  Steps  to  Immediate   Conversion.         7 

reiving  proper  evidence,  we  put  confidence  in.  or  receive 
as  true,  any  proposition  that  may  be  presented  to  us.  It 
is  something  in  daily,  almost  continual,  exercise.  Thero 
is  scarcely  any  ordinary  transaction  of  life  in  which  it  is 
not  called  into  play.  Its  exercise  is  the  ground-work  of 
all  social  relations,  of  all  business  engagements,  and 
without  it  man  would  become  separated  from  his  fellow, 
ami  society  be  uprooted. 

Now,  my  friend,  it  is  the  same  attribute  which  you  are 
daily  exercising  with  reference  to  temporal  matters,  that 
you  are  required  to  bring  to  bear  upon  the  subject  of  sal- 
vation. God  has"  provide. I  the  object  of  faith — the  Lord 
.lesus  Christ  and  his  atonement — and  he  has  graciously 
oonferred  ou  you  the  power  to  believe.  What  now  re- 
mains to  be  done?  Simply  to  bring  the  two  together — 
the  power  to  believe  to  act  upon  the  object  of  belief. 
This  may  be  properly  called  the  act  of  faith. 

This  lends  us  to  roiswer   the  last  question — "How  shall 

believe?" 

I  The  Scripture  answer  to  this  question  is  this:  "With 
heart  man  bclieveth  unto  righteousness,"  or  justifica- 
tion. Tt>  believe  with  the  heart  is  to  take  hold  of  Christ 
with  the  affections;  in  other*  words,  to  confide  in  him  with 
the  trust  of  love,  of  approval,  of  satisfaction.  Not  only 
must  your  mind  receive  the  truth  that  the  atonement  of 
Christ  is  the  meritorious  cause  that  procures  your  salva- 
tion, but,  with  ati  humbling  sense  of  your  own  utter  uu- 
worthiness,  and  of  the  infinite  goodness  and  condecension 
of  God  in  providing  this  ransom  for  you,  you  must  ap- 
proach the  throne  of  grace,  g'adly  and  thankfully  receiv- 
ing the  proffered  boon  #>f  pardon  as  offered  by  God  in  all 
sincerity,  heartily  relying  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as 
your  oicn,  present,  all-sufficient  Redeemer. 

Do  you  fear  to  make  the  venture?  Has  not  God  in- 
vited, encouraged,  commanded  van  ?  Hear  him  :  "  Believe 
on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shaltbe  saved."  "  He 
thatbelieveth,  shall  be  saved."  ««  Him  that  cometh  unto 
me,  I  will  in  no*  wise  cast  out."  "  What  things  soever  ye 
desire,  when  ye  pray,  believe  that  ye  receive  them,  and 
ye  shall  have  them."  You  say  that  you  do  try  to  believe, 
but  you  do  not  feel.     It  is  because  your  faith  is  defective 


8  Two  Steps  to   Immediate   Conversion. 

You  ask  something  besides  God's  word  on  which  to  rest 
your*  confidence.     Is  thiswise?     Is  it  not  dishonoring  to 

God?  How  can  he  bless  a  soul  with  a  sense  of  his  ap- 
proval, while  that  soul  refuses  to  credit  his  word,  and 
asks  for  other  proof?  If  a  friend  of  long-tried  integrity 
were  to  relate  to  you  a  circumstance  that  had  just  passed 
under  his  own  observation,  would  he  not  consider  it  an 
insult  for  yo\x  to  remark,  "  I  do  not  feel  what  you  say  to 
be  the  truth?  "  Again,  feeling  that  you  are  pardoned,  or 
a  consciousness  of  forgiveness,  cannot  take  place  until 
after  the  fact  itself  has  transpired.  The  effect  cannot 
exist  before  the  cause.  You  are  not  called  upon,  to  be- 
lieve that  you  are  already  converted;  neither  may  JfOj 
delay  at  the  mere  belief  tha*  you  will  be. 

Perhaps  the  usual  steps  by  which  the  seeking  soul  more 
immediately  enters  into  the  actual  realization  ci'  to^bles! 
ing,  arc  these : 

1.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  by  his  atonement  perfectly 
satisfied  the  justice  of  God  ia  my  behalf. 

2.  God,  911  account  of  this  atonement,  offers  mcaW 
.  and  present  pardon. 

3.  He  is  able,  willing,  and  ready  to  grant  me  this  pardon 
now. 

4.  Believing  that  his  word  cannot  fail,  I  now  von  tare 
my  all  upon  it,  and,  receiving  Christ  as  my  oi  -  >T>d  aii- 
sufiicicnt  Saviour,  1  am  now  saved  through  him. 

Isot  that  these  points  always,  nor  even  frequently,  oc- 
cupy the  mind  as  a  forma!  process,  but  probably,  in  one 
way  or  another,  the  .truths  thej  contain  operate  upon  the 
aoul  in  the  successful  effort  to  believe. 

And  now,  my  penitent  friend,  Uaving  presented  what  I 
believe  to  be  the  Bible  plan  of  justifi  :ation  by  faith,  (re- 
pentance being  on?y  the  pre-requisite  of  faith,)  let  me 
earnestly  urge  you  to  an  immediate  experimental  test  of 
its  efficacy.  Why  delay  a  moment?  If  faith  be  the  in- 
strumentality, is  it  not  at  hand  ?  If  Christ  be  the  object, 
is  he  not  "nigh  thoe,  even  in  thy  mouth,  and  in  thy 
heart?"  Does  not  all  Scripture  say,  "Now  is  the  ac- 
cepted time?"  Come  to  Jesus  just  now,  and  just  as  you  are. 

Soldiers'  Tract  Association,  M.  E.  Church,  South. 


Hollinger  Corp. 
PH  8.5 


